Domestic animals such as sheep, cattle, and the horse family appear to have an inherent instinct, tendency or desire to wander if not kept under some form of control. Fenced areas are a logical means of restraint but fenced areas can cover enormous areas of ground. Sheep and cattle generally tend to remain in generalized flock and herd configurations particularly during hours of darkness. Various events can startle the flock or herd and cause them to take off in what can be termed almost uncontrolled flight. However, flocks and herds are usually provided by around-the-clock guards such as dogs and men usually mounted.
The hourse family, except in the wild state, are not in herds but rather are in a horse-on-human relationship. The horse is to carry a rider and so must generally be kept available. The burden members of the horse family such as mules and burros are normally in greater numbers and as such are normally confined in an area either by a rope corral or by tethering to a picket line. Horses, on the other hand, are more likely to be one-on-one with the riders. As such, when the day's work is completed the horses are unsaddled, unbridled and then generally put out to forage. At such times the horse can be tethered to a pin, stake or tree. It is not uncommon for a horse to chew through a tether. The tether can be secured to a log which can be dragged along as the horse wanders in foraging, but this mild restraint will not prevent a horse from moving an undesirable distance from the rider. The most practical form of restraining a horse during such times is to tie or otherwise secure a short line between the horse's forelegs above the hocks.
Such a restraint is called a hobble and causes the horse to move only in very short steps, generally about a foot at a time. Such hobbles are often made from a short length of rope tied around each foreleg. More advanced hobbles have used leather straps around each foreleg coupled together by a very short length of rope. Again, it is not unknown for a horse to sever the interconnecting rope. The use of a wire cable between straps or a light chain prevents the severing of the interconnecting link. The leather straps have on occasion been chewed off by a determined horse. The leather straps are not always easily attached and can deteriorate from use and wetness.